How to Create a Homemade Miniature Clay Spring Flower Pot

There are variations on mading the miniature clay spring flower pot. The instructions are for self-hardening clay.

Prepare the work surface with a cloth or newspaper. Gather the materials.

Materials Needed for the Homemade Miniature Clay Spring Flower Pot

Self-hardening clay (kiln-firing clay could also be used if you have kiln access)
a cloth or newspaper
a large bottle cap or another small circular object
a needle tool
a rolling pin
a garlic press (or similar item)
fabric wire or a green pipe cleaner
terra cotta colored paint (or a mix of red and brown)
optional - a teaspoon of clean sand
grass green paint
a paintbrush
colorful flower-colored paint: you choose the hue

Using Coils to Construct the Base of the Homemade Miniature Clay Spring Flower Pot

Make a small ball of clay. Soften it in your hands. Flatten it out. Use the a bottle cap or another object about the size of a half dollar to cut out a circle. Or draw a circle on paper and cut it out. The circle will be the bottom of the clay flower pot.

Take a cherry tomato sized clump of clay and roll it between both palms to make a coil. Make sure the clay stays between your palms, and not your fingers, for an even coil. Place one end of the coil on the circle.

Use the entire coil to wrap around the circumference of the circle. Attach both ends of the coil together. Remove any excess by pinching off the end or using a needle tool.

Repeat this process, three or four times, making each coil slightly longer, which will make the pot slightly larger on the top than on the bottom.

Use your fingers to gently smooth out the coils on the outside of the pot. You may need to place fingers from other hand inside the pot for support. Smooth the coils out so you can no longer see the coils. The coils on the inside do not need to be smoothed since that part of the miniature clay spring flowerpot will not be seen.

Using Flat Clay to Construct the Top of the Homemade Miniature Clay Spring Flower Pot

When the pot is 3/4 of the size you'd like, which for this project should be about inch or so high, it is time to stop the coils and and switch to slab pottery techniques.

Take a ball of clay. Roll it out with a rolling pin or a heavy jar or can, to about the same thickness as the coils. Cut a long rectangular piece out using the needle tool. The rectangle should be about 1/2 inch from top to bottom. Place the rectangular piece on top of the coils. This forms the lip of the small clay flower pot. Smooth the bottom part of the rectangular piece into the coils. Retaining the shape of the lip.

The top of the rectangular piece should be flat.

When finished with this part, the pot should look like a miniature flower pot.

Making Clay Grass

Next use a garlic press to make the "grass" for the flower pot. The "grass" will be thin strips of clay once you run them through a hand-held garlic press. Make a pile of clay grass wide enough to cover more than the top of the miniature clay flower pot.

Gently drop the grass onto the top of the flower pot. Do not press down, and do not change the shape of the grass. It should look both delicate and messy. Gently press the underneath grass pieces onto the edges of the clay pot using a needle tool

Let the clay pot and the "grass" dry.

Making a Clay Flower

Using the rest of the slab, cut out a flower in any shape. Make sure the size of the flower does not overpower the flower pot. Poke a hole in the middle of the flower large enough for the fabric wire or pipe cleaner. Let it dry.

Decorating the Homemade Miniature Clay Spring Flowerpot

When all the clay pieces are dry, paint them. Use a terra cotta colored paint for the pot. If not available, mix a red and brown together to get the right earthy hue. For a truly authentic look, mix in some sand to the paint before you brush the paint on the flowerpot.

Paint the flower in a colorful spring hue. You could even paint different colors on each side.

A tiny brush may be needed to properly paint the grass and all of the tiny pieces.

Finally, use green fabric wire to thread the flower. Make a stem long enough to sit on the bottom of the pot, for sturdiness, and to have some of the stem showing through the grass. Poke the wire through the grass, leaving the flower on the top.

Variation: this project also works well with clay used in a kiln. Make all pieces as directed, fire, glaze and re-fire. Add the wire last.